Nine Lives Lost
by Sparrowclaw of ThunderClan
Summary: Have you ever been curious about Tigerstar's nine lives? What were they given with, and by who? Perhaps it wasn't StarClan who gave them to him? Peek into Tigerstar's consciousness as nine lives are given, and nine lives are lost.


**School took me by surprise, guys, and I had A LOT of homework. But I'll update when I can! Sorry, _Never Fall in Love _readers. Thank you so much for your support, which I by no means deserve, but I felt like writing a one-shot! I promise to get back on the story soon!**

* * *

The dark tabby tom stood at the entrance of the pitch-black cave, flexing his long claws uncertainly. Would StarClan accept him? Give him nine lives?

"Go on in, Tigerclaw," Runningnose urged, his face filled with anticipation.

Tigerclaw couldn't back down now. After he'd been exiled, he had killed that warrior Runningwind, and struck fear into the hearts of that fool Bluestar, and her pet Fireheart. How horrified would they be when he turned up, more powerful than ever.

It had been just too easy to trick this excuse for a medicine cat and his pitiful clan into thinking that he was a "gift from StarClan" and that it was their will that he be their leader. It was all too perfect.

No, StarClan was going to accept him, and he was going to the leader. Tigerclaw was already one of the most powerful cats in the four clans, and with nine lives, he would be invincable.

"Alright," he mewed, turning to Runningnose. "I'm ready."

The gray and white medicine cat nodded and nudged him forward, into the depths of Mothermouth. He remembered coming here several times as an apprentice, with Sunstar, and then many more times as a warrior, with Bluestar or Featherwhisker or Spottedleaf. He had imagined going in and getting nine lives, but never in this particular way. In his naivety, he had imagined gaining his place by justly succeeding Bluestar, and then having one of his two sisters as deputy.

But it was all so different now. Bluestar still lived, his deputy would be a former rogue, and he was in ShadowClan, not ThunderClan. Not that Tigerclaw regretted anything, save the deaths of his sisters, and having failed to kill Bluestar.

Tigerclaw made his way through the dark tunnel, feeling around with his paws, tail, and whiskers. He had been this way only a few times; most often he had guarded the entrance. But there was only one tunnel, and it would be hard to lose your way unless you lost your sense of direction. But Tigerclaw began to feel panic building in his chest as it seemed that the passage wound around underneath the earth's surface forever.

At last, Tigerclaw caught sight of a tiny stream of light a few fox-lengths down the tunnel. As he moved closer, the light grew brighter, and he finally saw the moonstone. It was not illuminated yet, for the moon had not risen to its full height, but the crystal glinted in the faint glow of the faraway stars.

The moon appeared, as promised, and the moonstone all at once took on an amazing lunar glow. The air smelled cool and fresh, with certain scents that the tabby could not place. He stared at it uncertainly for a few long seconds, but then finally crouched down and pressed his nose to the crystal.

_Tigerclaw found himself in a dark woodland. The trees were gnarled and life-less. The ground underpaw was muddy, and a slimy stream flowed beside him. The air was uncomfortably cold, and the whole place smelled musty, and of crow-food._

_This was not what he had expected StarClan to look like. He searched the area for fallen cats. Had StarClan not accepted him? Had they ignored him, and sent him to this horrid place?_

"_Tigerclaw!" said a familiar voice from the shadows. Tigerclaw tensed. He tried to think of who the voice belonged to, but couldn't place it until a gray and white tom appeared from behind him._

"_Thistleclaw!" Tigerclaw called, padding up to his old mentor. "I've not seen you for seasons," he mewed, touching noses to the fallen cat in greeting._

"_But _I _have seen _you_," Thistclaw told him, returning Tigerclaw's gesture. "I've watched over you every second. You have made it much further than I did. You're going to be clan leader, and you're going to crush Bluestar and earn your rightful place as leader of all cats."_

_Tigerclaw felt proud under his old mentor's praising gaze, and he held his head high. "So," he prompted, glancing around. "This is StarClan?"_

_He was startled when Thistleclaw let out a snarl of rage. "Those mouse-hearts? Never! They put us in this stinking place because we are better than they are," he growled. Tigerclaw tipped his head to the side._

"_You mean, this is a different place? A place that's _not _StarClan?" he asked. Thistleclaw nodded, still growling._

"_They refer to this cursed place as the Place of No Stars. We call it the Dark Forest," another voice called out, and a ragged white she-cat with ginger patches crept out from behind another tree. "But we'll be out of here in no time, with your help. When the earthly clans are ruled by the greats, the spiritual clans are ruled by them as well."_

_Another cat appeared; a badly scarred dark tabby with a maimed tail. "It is not often that we have the privilege to give a new leader their nine lives. They will sustain as well as any given by StarClan," he explained. The tom was apparently rather old, Tigerstar could even faintly see the slimy frond of a fern behind him._

_A ginger and white she-cat joined the tabby. "But that'll change once we make you leader of ShadowClan," she said._

"_Who are you?" Tigerclaw asked the tabby tom and the ginger and white she-cat. The she-cat dipped her head to him._

"_My name is Mapleshade. I was a ThunderClan cat when I lived," she replied briskly. The dark brown tabby tom stepped in front of her._

"_And my name is Shredtail. I trained Thistleclaw here in the Dark Forest moons and moons ago," Shredtail replied. Tigerclaw could sense the authority in his voice, and could tell that he was one of the most senior Dark Forest warrior._

_Many more cats arrived. Their dark pelts melded together at first, but then he could make out each individual cat, their eyes glowing through the shadows. They seemed to surge forth, and form a crowd around Thistleclaw, Mapleshade, Shredtail, and Tigerclaw_

"_Are you ready to receive your lives?" Thistleclaw asked, amber eyes burning into Tigerclaw's pelt._

_Tigerclaw stood up straight, and braced himself for whatever was coming. "I am!" he yowled. Brokenstar appeared from the crowd, his eyes in perfectly good health, but all other scars remaining. He looked into Tigerclaw's eyes._

"_With this life, I give you everlasting strength. Use it to show your enemies who is leader!" Brokenstar called, and touched his nose to Tigerclaw's. An agonizing blast of energy tore through his body, making him want to scream in pain._

Is this what power feel's like? _h__e thought, having to fight back a yelp. Another cat made their way to the front of the mass of cats. He was a pure white tom with tufted ears._

"_My name is Snowtuft," he told Tigerclaw. "With this life I give you tireless energy. Use it fight until your very last breath!"_

_Another burning flash of pain coursed through Tigerclaw. He withstood it with clenched teeth and grating claws._

_The third cat appeared, a brown tabby with gray patches. He smelled horribly of crow-food. Tigerclaw wanted to back away from him, to clear his nose of the awful smell._

"_The name's Maggot-tail, young warrior," he said. The name was quite fitting. "With this life, I give you the ability to bare anything, get through anything. Use it to hold out while your opponents fall!" he said, his smelling breath clogging Tigerclaw's scent glands, and he was almost able to ignore the pain because of the scent._

_The fourth cat came up to him, and Tigerclaw recognized him as one of Brokenstar's former warriors._

"_Hey, Tigerclaw. Remember me, Clawface?" the battle-scarred brown tom asked gloomily. __Tigerclaw nodded. Clawface didn't waste time catching up. "With this life, I give you mercilessness. Use it stay at the very top of the food chain, and punish without hesitation!" he meowed loudly and firmly, touching his nose to Tigerclaw's._

_Tigerclaw heard pleas and cries of mercy, wails of grief, and shrieks of pain, and then he found that he could ignore it without regret._

_The next cat to step up was a mottled brown tabby she-cat with blazing blue eyes. She stared at Tigerclaw with a mix of curiosity and apprehension._

"_I am Sparrowfeather, Tigerclaw," she announced, her blue gaze sweeping over the watching cats. "With this life I give you cunning and slyness. Use it to catch your prey with perfection and efficiency."_

_When Sparrowfeather said _prey_, Tigerclaw was pretty sure that she didn't mean a squirrel. As she touched noses to him, he found that he felt invisible, stalking like a shadow. As another excruciating spasm racked his frame, Tigerclaw found himself gaining power, his insides writhing with new energy, and his claws flexing and teeth clacking with more enthusiam._

_Now it was Mapleshade who strutted up to face him. She focused in on him, her green eyes consuming his soul. "With this life, I give you bravery. Use it to charge into a battle a thousand against one."_

_Now Shredtail came to stand in front of him. The tom looked him up and down, sizing him up. Tigerclaw stood erectly and stared at him levelly. "With this life I give you fluency. Use it to make anyone do anything you wish."_

_Finally it was Thistleclaw's turn. He smiled at Tigerclaw. "With this life I give you training. Use it to train your young to be weapons in battle," he commanded Tigerclaw. He touched his nose to Tigerclaw's, and another biting, burning, stinging ripple of power zoomed through his limbs._

_There was still one last life to receive. Tigerclaw waited for the ninth cat the take the stage, but none did. At last the crowd began to part. The shifting cats in the crowd were hissing in disgust, or snarling with rage. Tigerclaw craned his neck to see what all the commotion was. He gasped in shock when he came face-to-face with the last cat he expected to see in the Dark Forest, or any spirit realm._

"_Pinestar?" he uttered in disbelief. But there the reddish tabby was, in full health, pelt glimmering with stars, and among all these Dark Forest cats._

"_Greetings, my son. I am here to give you your last life," he explained, causing more angry yowls to erupt._

"_You don't belong here, kittypet!" Thistleclaw challenged. Pinestar glanced calmly at his former clanmate._

"_I will leave, but after I have given my son his ninth life," Pinestar declared, and Thistleclaw scowled, but remained silent._

_Tigerclaw now faced his father, their identical amber eyes glowering at each other. "And what if I choose not to accept this life?" he snarled. Pinestar looked at him, eyes half-lidded as if weary from dealing with a hot-headed apprentice._

"_Then you shall regret it," he said flatly. Tigerstar didn't move or make a sound. Pinestar took that as his consent. "With this life I give you wisdom. Use it to discontinue your current path, which will lead to certain death, and find the right one!"_

_Pinestar touched his nose to Tigerclaw's, and the most painful life of them all exploded all around and inside of him. He felt the tug of temptation pull at his mind, and the tug of the right path. They both pulled with such intensity that Tigerclaw was certain that he would be torn in two. He let out a horrendous howl that erupted through the entire forest, and when the pain was gone, so was Pinestar._

_The Dark Forest cats surrounded him and began calling out his new name. "Tigerstar! Tigerstar! Tigerstar!"_

_Tigerstar held his head high, and felt the power surging through his muscles, propelling him forward into the future beyond._

_Shredtail came up and touched Tigerstar's shoulder with his injured tail. "Do not fail, us Tigerstar," he whispered, before the dream melted together and was gone._

* * *

Scourge tore through Tigerstar's flesh like it was made of dust. Blood oozed from the huge gash even before Tigerstar felt the pain. He let out a cry and collapsed.

Brokenstar appeared before him. _I've lost my first life... _he thought.

"A life for everlasting strenth..." he whispered, and then disappeared.

Tigerstar opened his eyes again, but found he still could not breath. Once again, his body became lifeless.

Then Snowtuft appeared. "A life for tirelesss energy..."

Again, Tigerstar's eyes opened, and closed. Now it was Maggot-tail. "A life for the ability to bare anything..."

Clawface. "A life for mercilessness..."

Sparrowfeather. "A life for cunning and slyness..."

Mapleshade. "A life for bravery..."

Shredtail. "A life for fluency..."

Thistleclaw. "A life for training..."

_I'm losing every one of my lives! _Tigerstar thought, horrified. _And from a single cat, and a single wound! All the power... no... no..._

Finally, Pinestar's life, the ninth life, went out with a gurgle. Pinestar's amber eyes glowed solemnly through the dark mist. "A life for wisdom... Tigerstar, I told you to use the wisdom to change your fate, or you would face certain death, and now you are dead, sentenced to eternity is the Dark Forest, wallowing in your own regrets, lies, and sorrows. I warned you, Tigerstar, I warned you."

Tigerstar felt claws of fury rip into his pelt, and teeth pierce his skin. "You have failed us!" the Dark Forest cats wailed. And he felt pain, more intense than any he had ever endured, while receiving his lives, or in any battle. "You have failed us, Tigerstar!" they cried, their voices howling like the wind at night. And then it was over, and he was powerless.

And then, Tigerstar, who's limbs had surged with power not many moons before, stalked into the shadows to stay, forever, his earthly body lying still in the four-treed clearing.

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**This is not my best, that's for sure. But I always wondered how his dream went... Did you? Feel free to review and critisize. Because critisizm is what my sucky writing needs!**


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